Democrats’ Task: Rebuild the Blue Political Wall in Midwest

Democrats need to rebuild the political “blue wall” of traditionally Democratic upper Midwest and Great Lakes states that Republican Donald Trump captured with an appeal to white, working-class voters.

Hillary Clinton’s failure to hold key blocs of these voters helped seal Trump’s stunning electoral victory and leaves Democrats with a gaping, perhaps long-term, hole in the party’s national battle front. Trump boasted of his accomplishment at a post-election rally in Ohio.

Trump carried Michigan and Pennsylvania, where Democratic nominees had won the previous six presidential elections. Trump also won Wisconsin, carried by Democrats in seven straight tries, and Iowa, carried just once by a Republican over the same period.

Should Democratic voting continue to lag behind Republicans in midterm elections, as it did in in 2014, the results could be devastating in two years when the party will defend Senate seats in Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania, and try to retake governorships in Iowa, Michigan and Wisconsin.

“Democrats suffered the consequences of apathy and selective amnesia over the past midterms and arrogance over the presidential electorate,” said Haley Morris, a senior adviser to Democrat Gary Peters’ Michigan Senate campaign, among the Democrats’ few 2014 victories in the region. “We got walloped across the Midwest in 2010 and 2014. Democrats had a glimpse of what the results could look like without Barack Obama on the ticket and ignored it.”

Mark Jefferson, the Republican National Committee’s Midwest regional political director, said the GOP consistently focused on “blue-collar Reagan Democrats, who were heavily trending toward Trump.”

County-specific, unofficial national voting data tabulated by The Associated Press shows Clinton received fewer votes than Trump in places Democrats had banked on for consecutive elections, and even decades, such as Dubuque County, Iowa.

For more on the election, watch:

Trump edged Clinton by fewer than 1,000 votes in this northeast Iowa county known for its small-city namesake on the Mississippi River and its once thriving manufacturing economy. Trump became the first Republican to carry Dubuque County since Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1956.

Clinton’s 22,774 Dubuque County total fell roughly 6,000 fewer short of Obama’s 28,768 in 2012, and more than 1,000 behind his 23,791 in 2008.

Dubuque’s Rebecca Thoeni, a lifelong Democrat until recently, said Clinton did not seem to reach out to her or her peers in 2016.

“Then I saw Donald Trump, and he got out there and showed he was serious about keeping jobs,” said Thoeni, who attended a Dubuque Trump rally in January. “He explained things in layman’s terms. That’s what changed me.”

Thoeni’s is a scenario that echoed loudly around the country, where six in 10 white women without college degrees said they voted for Trump, according to exit polls conducted for The Associated Press by Edison Research. The rate was even higher among white, non-college educated men.

And it played out in the thousands in Macomb County, Michigan, home to 10% of the state’s voters.

After railing for months against the North American Free Trade Agreement, enacted under President Bill Clinton, Trump won Macomb by 48,000 votes. Clinton received 176,238 votes, compared with Obama’s 208,016 in 2012 and 223,754 in 2008.

“In counties decimated by trade deals, decades of talking points don’t pay the bills,” said Robert Becker, who ran Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders’ winning campaign for the Michigan Democratic presidential 2016 primary. “For the party’s future, we have to be honest that the jobs being created in the country aren’t being created in this part of the country.”

The pattern held in Wisconsin too, where Trump won fewer votes than Romney did in suburban Milwaukee and where Trump’s criticism of Gov. Scott Walker worked against him. However, he carried the state in part by winning places like Racine County, part of a former union-heavy industrial corridor between Milwaukee and Chicago.

Trump received about 4,000 votes more than Clinton in Racine County. Clinton’s 42,506 were more than 10,000 off Obama’s 53,008 in 2012 and 53,405 in 2008.

In Pennsylvania, Trump similarly won Erie and Luzerne counties, smaller metropolitan areas than sprawling Philadelphia and its suburbs, but with a higher white working-class population and unemployment higher than the state average. Democratic presidential candidates had carried both counties in the past six consecutive elections.

Trump beat Clinton in Luzerne County—childhood home of Vice President Joe Biden—78,303 to 52,092.

In the final weeks, Clinton focused on emerging Democratic states such as Arizona and North Carolina. She lost both.

Clinton did not have ties to working-class white voters as strong as those of her husband, who had been governor of Arkansas, said political historian Mary Frances Berry of the University of Pennsylvania.

Berry, who has also worked for Democratic candidates, said before the election that Hillary Clinton was not contesting Trump in blue-collar country.

The Democratic Party is seen by ordinary, working people as “caring about the cultural, managerial and professional elite,” she said, “not about them.”

Ford Is Still Moving Small Car Production to Mexico Despite Trump’s Tariff Threats

Ford Motorf is moving ahead with plans to shift production of small cars to Mexico from Michigan, while “two very important products” will be built in its U.S. factories, Chief Executive Officer Mark Fields told Reuters on Tuesday.

President-elect Donald Trump has criticized Ford for the decision to shift production of Focus small cars to Mexico in 2018, and said he would consider levying tariffs on Mexican-made Fords. Trump has also said he wants to scrap the North American Free Trade agreement, which also includes Canada, and to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border to stop undocumented immigrants.

“We’re going forward with our plan to move production of the Ford Focus to Mexico, and importantly that’s to make room for two very important products we’ll be putting back into Michigan plants,” Fields said in an interview on the sidelines of the Los Angeles Auto Show. “There will be no job impact whatsoever with this move.”

Ford Chairman Bill Ford Jr. said last month he met with Trump. Ford has countered Trump’s criticism, saying the company, founded by his great-grandfather, makes more cars and trucks in the United States than any other automaker.

Fields said with U.S. gasoline prices so low, “it’s very difficult for us to be able to make money on a vehicle produced in the U.S.” in the small car segment. If Ford decided to build the Focus small car line in the United States, and had to raise the price, “we wouldn’t sell the vehicle.”

The group that represents Ford and other major automakers in the U.S. has asked the Trump transition team to review and consider easing the Obama administration’s fuel economy standards, which call for automakers to more than double the fuel efficiency of their fleets to 54.5 miles per gallon by 2025.

Fuel economy and trade “are two separate issues,” Fields said.

Ford also is moving ahead with plans to use factory capacity in other markets to fill gaps in its U.S. lineup. Company executives used the auto show to promote a small sport utility vehicle called the EcoSport that the company plans to ship from India.

“We already have the plants and investment in other parts of the world. It frees us up to make further investments in the U.S.,” Fields said, pointing to the money invested to launch a new SuperDuty pickup at a plant in Kentucky.

For more information on Ford, watch Fortune’s video:

Ford has cautioned investors that it sees demand for cars and light trucks hitting a plateau in the United States. Fields said heading into the last two months of the year “we are seeing a tougher pricing environment.”

“We expect the industry to be about the same as it was last year, probably a little lower on the retail side, and a continuing competitive pricing environment,” Fields said.

Why Tesla’s Next Target Is the State of Michigan

In the battle between disrupters and incumbent companies, the incumbents struggle mightily and often futilely against inertia. History, culture, and employee incentives propel them toward doom, try as they might to follow a new path. But their long history and great size do give them one great advantage: clout with legislators, regulators, and other government leaders. Highly successful disrupters must eventually fight on that turf, deploying a skill that isn’t taught in computer engineering class, and it isn’t easy. But they can prevail. For example:

Tesla yesterday sued the state of Michigan for the right to open a Tesla store. Co-founder Elon Musk’s disruption of the auto industry isn’t just technological. By selling cars directly to consumers at its own stores or online, he’s also disrupting the industry’s sales model based on independently owned dealerships. The only problem with that model is that it threatens the incumbent dealers, who have been major donors to state politicians for a century. At the dealers’ instigation, the Michigan legislature two years ago passed an “anti-Tesla” amendment forbidding direct-to-consumer sales by automakers. Tesla applied for a dealership license under the law, knowing its application would be rejected, which it was last week. The company lacks the clout to win in the legislature, so it’s trying to win in court.

The outcome is impossible to predict. In its suit, Tesla says that at a June negotiating session with carmakers, dealers, and legislators, one legislator said, “The Michigan dealers do not want you here. The local manufacturers do not want you here. So you’re not going to be here.” We shall see. The company is prohibited from direct sales in Connecticut, Texas, and Utah as well as Michigan, but it operates stores in 23 states and the District of Columbia. Hundreds of thousands of consumers have bought or ordered Teslas. Long-term, does anyone really doubt where this is going?

Incumbent taxi operators continue to fight Uber in the U.S. and worldwide. A company manager visited Anchorage this week to try negotiating Uber’s return to the city, from which it was exiled last year after the state said its drivers are employees, not contractors. A Finnish court this week confiscated the earnings of two Uber drivers for operating without taxi licenses. Temporary authorizations for Uber in Pennsylvania and separately in Philadelphia will expire soon, and if they’re not renewed, the service will cease operating there.

Panicked taxi drivers and operators believe they can’t beat the Uber model, so they’re trying desperately to stave it off. But the company’s experience in Montreal is probably more representative of its long-term future. The provincial government introduced a bill requiring all Uber drivers, many of whom drive in their spare time, to have a taxi license costing some $150,000 But many of the governing party’s own members opposed the Uber-killing bill, as did the Chamber of Commerce and an environmental group. An amended bill delaying application of the law for 90 days passed in June, and in that time Uber negotiated a deal with the government dropping the bill’s key feature, the license requirement. The law imposes other restrictions on Uber, but the service is now legal and viable in Montreal, which is what the bill was trying to prevent.

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Fighting big, desperate incumbents is brutal. Disrupters can’t win playing the big guys’ game. They win only by winning with customers, as Tesla and Uber are doing. When they can do that, even as the incumbents fight rearguard actions, the eventual outcome isn’t in doubt.

Tesla Is Suing the Home of the U.S. Auto Industry

Tesla is suing the state of Michigan in federal court in hopes of reversing a law that prevents the automaker from selling its electric cars there.

The Palo Alto-based automaker filed a lawsuit Thursday in U.S. District Court Western District of Michigan Southern Division. The lawsuit comes just a week after Michigan officials rejected Tesla’s request for a“Class A” license, which would have allowed the automaker to open a company-owned dealership in the state. Tesla applied for the license to test the limits of a state law that prevents it from selling vehicles there directly to consumers, the company said back in February.

Tesla tsla has a different business model than other automakers. It sells its own cars directly online and through its own branded stores, not through franchised dealerships. All U.S. states have laws that prevent automakers with existing franchisees from opening their own dealerships to compete with them. However, dealer associations in a number of U.S. states, including have tried to expand the law to include manufacturers like Tesla that don’t have franchise dealers. Tesla has not been able to get a license to sell directly to consumers in Michigan, Texas, Connecticut, and Utah.

In October 2014, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill initiated and backed by the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association that effectively banned Tesla from selling directly to consumers in the state.

Tesla says the law was passed to give give local auto dealers a state-sponsored monopoly on car sales in Michigan. “As a result of this law, Michigan consumers are forced to accept reduced access to the products they want, less competition and higher prices,” Tesla said in an emailed statement.

Tesla insists that it prefers to solve the problem legislatively, but says the response from the state legislature has forced the company to take legal action.

Again, from Tesla:

Unfortunately, the local auto dealers and local manufacturers have made clear that they oppose any law that would allow Tesla to operate in Michigan. Given their position, the leadership of the Michigan legislature recently informed Tesla that it will not even hold a hearing to debate the issue. As one leading legislator told Tesla: The local auto dealers do not want you here. The local manufacturers do not want you here. So you’re not going to be here.

In the lawsuit, Tesla accuses General Motorsgm of using its considerable influence in the state to help push the so-called Anti-Tesla bill through the legislature.

A spokesman at Gov. Snyder’s office said in an email the state doesn’t comment on pending lawsuits.

Updated at noon ET with a comment from Office of Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder.

Why Tesla Will Be Forced to Sue Michigan

Michigan officials denied Tesla’s request for a dealership license, a decision that validates the state’s ban on selling new cars directly to consumers and could compel the all-electric automaker to take legal action.

The decision, which was issued by the Michigan Secretary of State’s office this week, wasn’t a surprise. Tesla confirmed in February that it had applied for a “Class A” license, which would allow the automaker to open a company-owned dealership in the state. The application enabled Tesla to test the limits of a state law that prevents it from selling vehicles there directly to consumers, the company said at the time.

The state held an administrative hearing Sept. 7 on whether to deny a dealer license to Tesla. “The license was denied because state law explicitly requires a dealer to have a bona fide contract with an auto manufacturer to sell its vehicles. Tesla has told the department it does not have one, and cannot comply with that requirement,”the Michigan Department of State said in a statement that.

Meanwhile, Tesla’s official response explains its actions and hints at its next step.

At the urging of local car dealers and GM, Michigan law was changed two years ago to prevent Michigan consumers from buying cars from a Tesla store within the state. As part of the process of challenging the legality of that law, Tesla applied for a license in Michigan. Tesla will continue to take steps to defend the rights of Michigan consumers.

The company doesn’t offer any details on how it will defend those consumer rights. Tesla has two options: go to the courts or try to influence lawmakers. Legal action is the most likely course of action, considering the company has failed to muster enough support within the state legislature.

Tesla has a different business model than other automakers. It sells its own cars directly online and through its own branded stores, not through franchised dealerships. All U.S. states have laws that prevent automakers with existing franchisees from opening their own dealerships to compete with them. However, dealer associations in a number of U.S. states, including Massachusetts, Missouri, North Carolina, and Washington, have tried to expand the law to include manufacturers like Tesla that don’t have franchise dealers.

Elon Musk is Upgrading Tesla’s Autopilot Feature:

Some states—such as Arizona, Michigan, and Texas—have taken an extra step and passed laws that ban direct sales. In these states, Tesla can still have a showroom, where consumers can look, but not buy, its Model S, Model X, and eventually, Model 3 vehicles. Tesla staff cannot discuss the cost of the car. They must instead direct customers to the website or a store in a neighboring state for more information.

Dealerships, which are major campaign contributors in local and state politics, have been a primary lobbying force against Tesla. In October 2014, Gov. Rick Snyder signed a bill initiated and backed by the Michigan Automobile Dealers Association that effectively bans Tesla from selling directly to consumers in the state. Automaker General Motors has also backed efforts to prevent Tesla from doing business in Michigan and other states. In February, Indiana legislators were considering a bill backed by GM that would ban auto manufacturers from directly selling their vehicles to consumers and instead require them to use the franchise dealership model used by traditional automakers. The so-called “Kill Tesla” bill was sent to a summer study committee, effectively putting it on hold.

Violent Protests Erupt in Milwaukee After Police Shoot Armed Suspect

Protesters fired gunshots, hurled bricks and set a gas station on fire in the U.S. mid-western city of Milwaukee on Saturday night, hours after a patrol officer shot and killed an armed suspect who took flight after a traffic stop, authorities said.

The 23-year-old suspect, who had a lengthy arrest record, was carrying a stolen handgun loaded with 23 rounds of ammunition when police pulled over the vehicle for unspecified “suspicious activity,” authorities said. A second suspect who fled from the vehicle was quickly taken into custody.

A statement by the Milwaukee Police Department did not say whether the suspect who was killed had fired any shots or pointed the weapon at officers during the incident. Authorities did not disclose the race or the name of the suspect or the uniformed officer.

Later, a crowd of more than 100 people in the predominately African-American section of the city where the shooting occurred hurled rocks as police officers in riot gear attempted to disperse the protesters.

Authorities said gunshots were fired during the disturbance. The windows of at least two squad cars were smashed, and one officer sitting inside one of the vehicles was hit in the head with a brick.

Protesters set a police car ablaze and fires broke out at gas station, an auto parts store and at least three other businesses, officials and local media reported.

“Our city is in turmoil tonight,” said Alderman Ashanti Hamilton, president of the Milwaukee Common Council.

Mayor Tom Barrett appealed for calm.

“This is a neighborhood that has been unfortunately affected by violence in the recent past,” Barrett said, referring to a smaller disturbance a month earlier. “There are a lot of really, really good people who live in this area … and can’t stand this violence.”

The unrest follows peaceful protests and some violence in U.S. cities over the past two years following high-profile killings by law enforcement officers in Baltimore, New York and Ferguson, Missouri.

Outrage over police violence toward minority groups has given rise to the Black Lives Matter movement and touched off a national debate over the race issue and policing in the United States.

“This is a warning cry,” Milwaukee Alderman Khalif Rainey said. “Black people of Milwaukee are tired. They are tired of living under this oppression.”

As of 1 a.m. Central time, police said three arrests had been made in connection with the unrest.

Shortly after 2 a.m. police said they were restoring order to the area and reducing deployments, but local news footage also showed a liquor store in flames just minutes before the release of the statement.

The officer involved in the shooting is 24 years old and a six-year veteran of the force, police said. He was placed on administrative duty until an investigation and subsequent review by the Milwaukee County District Attorney’s Office is complete, a standard practice after shootings by law enforcement officers.

Michigan Charges Several State Employees in Flint Water Scandal

Six Michigan state employees were charged on Friday in connection with dangerous levels of lead in the city of Flint’s drinking water, prosecutors said.

The criminal charges were filed by Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette against three employees apiece from the state’s health and environmental departments.

Schuette did not elaborate on possible charges for other local and state officials but said prosecutors “were going where the truth” takes them.

Some critics have called for high-ranking state officials, including Michigan Governor Rick Snyder, to be charged. Snyder said in April he believed he had not done anything criminally wrong.

Flint, with a population of about 100,000, was under control of a state-appointed emergency manager in 2014 when it switched its water source from Detroit’s municipal system to the Flint River to save money. The city switched back last October.

The river water was more corrosive than the Detroit system’s, and caused more lead to leach from its aging pipes. Lead can be toxic, and children are especially vulnerable. The crisis has prompted lawsuits by parents who say their children have shown dangerously high levels of lead in their blood.

The accusations mark the third round of charges related to the investigation into the Flint water crisis.

“In essence, these individuals concealed the truth. They were criminally wrong to do so,” Schuette told reporters. “And the victims, these are real people, families that have been lied to by government officials and treated as expendable.”

Those charged on Friday were identified as Department of Health and Human Services workers Nancy Peeler, Corinne Miller and Robert Scott, and Department of Environmental Quality employees Liane Shekter-Smith, Adam Rosenthal, and Patrick Cook.

Court documents did not list attorneys for the six charged.

Three state and local officials were criminally charged in April in connection with the investigation.

Flint utilities administrator Michael Glasgow subsequently agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of a deal that had him plead no contest to a misdemeanor charge while a more serious felony charge was dismissed.

Department of Environmental Quality officials Stephen Busch and Michael Prysby were charged with five and six counts, respectively, including misconduct in office, tampering with evidence and violation of the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act. Both pleaded not guilty.

Schuette last month sued French water company Veolia Environnement and Houston-based engineering services firm Lockwood, Andrews & Newnam for “botching” their roles in the city’s drinking water crisis.

This Guy Drove 10,000 Cans to Michigan and Got Busted

In many states, you can return soda or beer bottles or cans to retailers for a five-cent deposit refund. But in Michigan, you get double.

This small fact, written on the back of most recyclable bottles and cans, was the driving conceit in the 131st and 132nd episodes of Seinfeld, as Kramer and Newman attempted to drive to the Great Lakes state to arbitrage their way to profits.

In one of the most incredible cases of life imitating art, Kentucky resident Brian Everidge rented and drove a Budget box truck filled with thousands of cans and bottles to Michigan. Pulled over in Tyrone Township, Everidge was charged with the crime of intending to return bottles that did not come from Michigan.

Don’t laugh: Attempting to return 10,000 or more cans illegally—knowingly not purchased in-state, that is—can result in five years in prison and/or a fine of up to $5,000.

Everidge, however, seems to have a lawyer with the skills of Jackie Chiles. Defense attorney Marcus Wilcox argued that Everidge was pulled over before anything actually happened. “They caught him too early,” Everidge’s attorney said on Thursday, according to the Livingston Daily Press & Argus. In Wilcox’s mind, hanging out in Michigan with some Kentucky bottles without actually going to the deposit center is nothing more than a thought crime.

The fact that he never got close to a Michigan recycling center may not be enough to get Everidge off the hook, however. The Guardian talked to Peter Henning, a Wayne State University law professor and former federal prosecutor, who said Wilcox’s argument isn’t sure to win. It depends on whether it can be shown that Everidge “attempted the crime, rather than was he just thinking about it,” Henning told the Guardian.

More interestingly, Henning evoked Kramer’s initial argument against the scam—that the potential profit doesn’t justify the true cost of collecting all those cans and transporting them to Michigan. A back-of-envelope calculation suggests Henning would have netted only about $1,000—and maybe $2,000 if he really packed his truck to the gills. But boy did he get a great story.

Michigan Is On Track to Build Another Self-Driving Car Testing Center

Willow Run, where Ford built the B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II and General Motors made more than 5 million vehicle transmissions, is now on track to become a test bed for autonomous cars.

A trust responsible for redeveloping former General Motors properties that were excluded from the new company when it emerged from bankruptcy has agreed to sell 311 acres at the Willow Run site for $1.2 million. The trust, known as RACER, and the Michigan Economic Development Corporation, are selling the property to the Willow Run Arsenal of Democracy Landholdings Limited Partnership, which plans to lease the land to an organization hoping to turn it into an autonomous vehicle research center.

The 311-acre plot in Ypsilanti Township, Mich. would serve as a national center for connected and automated vehicle research testing, product development, validation, and certification, according to the state. Users would include private industry, academia, and government.

The American Center for Mobility, an organization formed in April, plans to develop and operate the new driverless car testing site. John Maddox, CEO of ACM, is already working with the state, the buyer of the property, and the trust to develop plans for the autonomous testing project.

Meanwhile, the state says it will help support the project and has approved using $3 million from the Michigan Strategic Fund for operational costs and for buying the property.

Self-driving cars are blowing up the auto industry:

Over the past year, Michigan has become a hotbed of autonomous vehicle and connected car testing. A 23 acre mini-city called MCity opened in July 2015 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for researchers to test driverless car technology. Toyota announced in April that it would put 5,000 connected cars that can wirelessly communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure onto the streets of Ann Arbor in a real-world experiment designed to move autonomous driving closer to reality.

And while GM and Ford are leading much of the activity in Michigan, even startups such as NuTonomy, an autonomous vehicle software company spun-out of MIT that raised $16 million in funding in May, are also testing there. Faraday Future, the Chinese-backed electric vehicle startup, also plans to test autonomous vehicle technology on public roads in Michigan.

Faraday Future Eyes Michigan for Self-Driving Car Tests

Faraday Future, the electric vehicle startup that wants to take on Tesla, reportedly plans to test autonomous vehicle technology on public roads in Michigan.

The company has applied for three manufacturer license plates through the Michigan Department of Transportation to test self-driving vehicles in the state, the Detroit News reported. To test self-driving cars in Michigan, a company must first apply for a manufacturer plate, show proof of state insurance, and pay a registration fee.

The applications are another sign of Faraday Future’s aggressive expansion plans, although it still isn’t entirely clear what it will build or how it will make money. The company, which is backed by Chinese billionaire Jia Yueting, the owner of online entertainment company Leshi Internet Information & Technology, emerged from the shadows in January when it unveiled its FFZero1, a futuristic, single-seat electric vehicle concept car at CES, the annual consumer electronics industry trade show.

Since then, Faraday Future has started construction on a 3 million square-foot factory in Nevada with the help of $215 million in tax incentives. The company is now negotiating with the Vallejo, Calif., near San Francisco, about plans to build an assembly plant and “customer experience center” in the city.

Check out this electric concept car:

The expansion to Michigan might seem premature—especially since the company has yet to produce a car. The state has become a hotbed of autonomous vehicle testing. A 23 acre mini-city called MCity opened in July 2015 at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor for researchers to test driverless car technology and figure out how it would work in the real world. Toyota announced in April that it would put 5,000 connected cars that can wirelessly communicate with other vehicles and infrastructure onto the streets of Ann Arbor in a real-world experiment designed to move autonomous driving closer to reality.

Big automakers like GM and Ford as well as startups such as NuTonomy, the autonomous vehicle software MIT spinoff that raised $16 million in funding round last month, is also testing in Ann Arbor.

Faraday Future, which doesn’t have the same infrastructure in place as the big established automakers, likely needs a test facility and access to the hundreds of suppliers located in the state, not to mention a deep pool of skilled engineers and others with automotive expertise.